


What Iris Saw

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Community: 1-million-words, F/M, Gen, Het, barry is clueless, iris sees things, missing scene from my het Big Bang 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2015-05-31
Packaged: 2018-04-02 05:23:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4047754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry and Iris discuss Joe and Caitlin's changing relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Iris Saw

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Constants](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4656078) by [helsinkibaby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby). 



> One_Million_Words for the weekend challenge gave me this prompt : Describe the relationship of two characters from the perspective of a third character. I'm currently 17k into my Het Big Bang and I'd just sent Iris and Barry out of the house when this prompt came to my inbox. This, therefore, will make no sense until Het Big Bang goes live but at least having it up here will keep me on the straight and narrow!

"So, are you going to tell me?" 

Iris fastened her seatbelt and turned to Barry, blinking innocently. "Tell you what?"

Barry raised one eyebrow, a definite challenge. "Why you're insisting on driving for takeout when you know I could be there and back in the time it takes us to do up our seatbelts?" 

"What, I can't want some quality time with my boyfriend?" Iris was all innocence and she knew that once upon a time, Barry would have been eating out of her hand by now. The past year of being her boyfriend though, not to mention the other revelations, had lessened his naïveté somewhat. 

"Somehow," Barry said dryly as she reversed out of the drive, "I get the feeling this is less about you and me time and more to do with you playing matchmaker." 

Iris chuckled, tilted her head as she pictured the scene they'd just left. "I don't think I'm going to have to play too hard," she murmured and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Barry's head whip around. He stared at her, eyes wide and he looked faintly appalled. It amused Iris more than it should because he'd seen everything she'd seen in the last twelve months and had evidently come to a completely different conclusion. Plus, they'd had this conversation before; he was well aware of her suspicions. 

"Joe's your dad," Barry reminded her, not for the first time. "And Caitlin is our friend."

Iris shook her head. "If it's the age thing, Dad was a young dad, and Caitlin's a few years older than us. And she's his friend too." The stoplight ahead turned red and she slowed down the car. "They've spent a lot of time together this year." 

"People can be friends without being romantic," Barry tried and Iris looked over at him, quirked an eyebrow and actually laughed out loud. 

"Holding us up as an example, are you?"

Barry grinned and looked down, his cheeks flushing. "We're different."

"We're really not."  Iris bit her lip, ostensibly watching the light but her mind was remembering what she'd seen that day. "Barry, you didn't see Dad today before Caitlin showed up... he was jittery, kept checking the clock like he was wondering where she was. And when she got there, the look on her face... she was terrified, I've never seen her look like that, not even..." Her voice trailed off and Barry looked down again, this time his smile nowhere in sight. He knew what she was referring to, Iris knew : that terrible day where they'd gained each other but lost so much, all at the same time. "The second he saw her, he just grabbed her like he never wanted to let her go... and she held him the same way." The light turned green and she put the car into drive. "There's something there. I know there is." 

"You might know." Barry's frown had turned to a lopsided smirk, with a tone to match. "Do you think they do?" 

Iris didn't blink, remembering all too well the look on Joe's face earlier on. "I think my dad does. Caitlin..." She pressed her lips together, shook her head. "I don't think so. I think she's so scared right now she can't let herself feel anything." 

"She's lost a lot the last couple of years... her job, her fiancé, her best friend..." His voice stumbled over the last and Iris reached out, squeezed his leg gently, quickly, before turning her eyes back to the road. Barry was silent for a long moment and when he spoke again, he changed tack. "You'd really be ok with this? The two of them, together?" 

He sounded curious and Iris knew why; the few times her dad had brought someone home, she hadn't always been the most receptive, or even polite, daughter. Still, she didn't have to think about her answer. "I love Caitlin," she said simply. "And I love my dad... And they're good for each other." She shrugged, flexed her fingers on the steering wheel. "Now, if they can just see that..."

Barry chuckled, reached over and let his fingers curl around her knee. "With Iris West on the case, I don't think they're going to have a choice." 

Iris glanced over at him and grinned but she didn't disagree. 


End file.
